Not a trend

Personal Photo: I snapped this photo outside of my apartment in college, taken aback by the intricacy of where each snowflake landed to create such a lovely scene. Snowflakes are so delicate, so detailed, differing from each other. We are not so different, as we are also unique to everyone else, designed to be entirely us, and called to have our own set of gifts. Embrace them, and remember that your individuality makes your outlook on life an entirely different opportunity to save souls and call others to Christ! Together, our gifts make a beautiful scene!

I walked through the center of campus, pulling my hood over my hair, now dappled with little white snowflakes. College in Ann Arbor was not for the faint of heart, and I kept my face down to keep the bitter wind from biting my nose and cheeks. My boots sloshed in the grey-colored half-melted snow, and I focused on the last three minutes of my walk before entering the building in which was my class. Just a freshman, I was learning about all the things I had never realized: I came from a much smaller town that I had originally believed, my thoughts and opinions were quickly swamped by an overhaul of diverse cultures and backgrounds, and I was struggling to pick up all the technical details that came with managing my workload from a computer rather than through an assignment notebook. One fact that took me over a year to really learn and accept was that there was no one else on campus like me. Recognizing that was at first a pain point; I struggled to find a group of people that believed in the same things as me, that was supportive like my family back at home, and I felt as though I was always meant to only experience it all from an outsider's perspective. As time continued, though, I found myself on my walks to class considering how that individuality made me an asset, created a commodity through the way I thought and viewed the world, and I began to truly accept the reality that swimming upstream made me stronger.

It doesn't take college for us to realize how precious individuality is, and God can use different times and places to instill within us a peace about who He has created us to be. It takes us spending time on the outside looking in to begin to find comfort in standing out from the crowd. These experiences teach us who we really are, and who we want to be. Over time, the empowerment we felt from standing out can wither and fade, and it can be easy to forget the power of uniqueness when we are constantly swamped with current trends, modern styles, popular opinions, and more. I titled this article 'Not a trend' because believing in the grace of God, accepting our place as outside of the in-crowd, and harnessing our personal experiences and view of the world are all anything but trends.

There is nothing "trendy" about Jesus, nothing hip and stylish about clinging to His commandments for us. In fact, following the steadfastness of Jesus, and living our lives for Him actually can put a target on our backs for bullies and those who do not understand the amazing power of His grace and love. However, this is not a reason to stay away from our calling as children of God, but rather to embrace that unique trait. John 15:19, tells us "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." This is one of my favorite verses from the Bible, as it expresses to us the reason why we do not fit in, why our differences make us strong, and why we can find comfort outside of the in-crowd. My friends, we are in a temporary home, living in a tent until it is time we are called to a mansion. When we feel alone in a room full of people, exhausted from trying to fit in, left out and abandoned by the world, we can remember this verse, and recognize that our differences are assets, not weaknesses.

Speaking of trends, I cannot help but consider when our peers imitate us, copy us to try to find the same level of peace we have. It is no secret when we plant our roots in Christ that our outlook on life changes. Those around us are sure to recognize the glow of the Holy Spirit within us, hear Him calling for them to invite Jesus into their hearts. When this happens, we have the ability to share God with others, and are called to do so. The Holy Spirit often uses us as a launching point to have an intimate and unique relationship with each of us. Often times, we can find others copying us, trying to be who we are, without putting in the same commitments or sacrifices. People say that imitation is the finest form of flattery, and I agree there is a level of truth to this. However, it can cross a dangerous line when people become chameleons, shapeshifting to fit whatever room they are in, whatever crowd they are with. They become the embodiment of the trends around us and fail to find the power in accepting the gifts that God has given to each of us. Instead of finding their own identity, they latch onto everyone else's, essentially burying their own uniqueness in the shallow imitations of their peers. Romans 12:4-8 explains the importance of accepting our gifts, rather than trying to take the gifts of those around us: "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the ones who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness." The way God created us, the entirely unique characteristics He built within us gives us a toolbelt that is different than any other child of His and allows our impact on the world to be special.

I wonder how we can change the world if we are constantly trying to be like it; When we think of our uniqueness this way, it allows us to cling to God when the trends leave us behind, when culture thinks we are too old-fashioned or traditional. We can work on accepting our individual gifts, harnessing them to make us efficient for giving glory to God, and remembering that they are part of the armor of God that He has built for us to wear daily. 1 John 2:17 reminds us that "And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." Here we can remember that our God is an everlasting God, and He withstands all trends, all shifts in culture, all the latest styles. It is up to us to seek the peace of the Lord when we don't fit in, and recognize that even when others imitate us, we have been chosen out by God, given special gifts by Him, and we are the only one of us that God ever created!